diff --git a/src/cli/one_helper.rb b/src/cli/one_helper.rb
index 59e17df0dc..cd7bb2f123 100644
--- a/src/cli/one_helper.rb
+++ b/src/cli/one_helper.rb
@@ -381,6 +381,21 @@ EOT
             :description => "In a vCenter environment sets the the VMs and Template folder where the VM will be placed in." \
             " The path uses slashes to separate folders. For example: --vcenter_vm_folder \"/Management/VMs\""
         },
+        {
+            :name   => 'user_inputs',
+            :large  => '--user-inputs ui1,ui2,ui3',
+            :format => Array,
+            :description => 'Specify the user inputs values when instantiating',
+            :proc => lambda do |o, options|
+                # escape values
+                options[:user_inputs].map! do |user_input|
+                    user_input_split = user_input.split('=')
+                    "#{user_input_split[0]}=\"#{user_input_split[1]}\""
+                end
+
+                options[:user_inputs] = o.join("\n")
+            end
+        },
         AS_GROUP,
         AS_USER
     ]
diff --git a/src/cli/one_helper/onetemplate_helper.rb b/src/cli/one_helper/onetemplate_helper.rb
index 6f33d2d4be..cd607c33eb 100644
--- a/src/cli/one_helper/onetemplate_helper.rb
+++ b/src/cli/one_helper/onetemplate_helper.rb
@@ -128,14 +128,18 @@ EOT
     INT_EXP = /^-?\d+$/
     FLOAT_EXP = /^-?\d+(\.\d+)?$/
 
-    def self.get_user_inputs(template)
+    def self.get_user_inputs(template, get_defaults = false)
         user_inputs = template['VMTEMPLATE']['TEMPLATE']['USER_INPUTS']
 
         return "" if !user_inputs
 
         answers = ""
 
-        puts "There are some parameters that require user input. Use the string <<EDITOR>> to launch an editor (e.g. for multi-line inputs)"
+        unless get_defaults
+            puts 'There are some parameters that require user input. ' \
+                 'Use the string <<EDITOR>> to launch an editor ' \
+                 '(e.g. for multi-line inputs)'
+        end
 
         user_inputs.each do |key, val|
             input_cfg = val.split('|', -1)
@@ -162,6 +166,11 @@ EOT
                 initial.strip!
             end
 
+            if get_defaults
+                answers << "#{key}=\"#{initial}\"" unless mandatory == 'M'
+                next
+            end
+
             puts "  * (#{key}) #{description}"
 
             header = "    "
diff --git a/src/cli/onetemplate b/src/cli/onetemplate
index 8208ddee96..a3c4602bba 100755
--- a/src/cli/onetemplate
+++ b/src/cli/onetemplate
@@ -224,8 +224,8 @@ CommandParser::CmdParser.new(ARGV) do
             next -1
         end
 
-        number = options[:multiple] || 1
-        user_inputs = nil
+        number      = options[:multiple] || 1
+        user_inputs = options[:user_inputs]
 
         number.times do |i|
             exit_code = helper.perform_action(args[0], options,
@@ -258,6 +258,10 @@ CommandParser::CmdParser.new(ARGV) do
 
                 if !user_inputs
                     user_inputs = OneTemplateHelper.get_user_inputs(t.to_hash)
+                else
+                    optionals = OneTemplateHelper.get_user_inputs(t.to_hash,
+                                                                  true)
+                    user_inputs = user_inputs + "\n" + optionals
                 end
 
                 extra_template << "\n#{user_inputs}"